The Shutdown:It’s day 31 of the government shutdown with no end in sight. President Trump spent a good part of the weekend firing off tweets praising his own accomplishments and insulting his detractors. Today is the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, and there’s no evidence of negotiations to end the shutdown.

  The financial implications for unpaid government employees are getting serious and the workings of government are approaching a meltdown.

  Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell is preparing to introduce legislation, as soon as tomorrow, that would inject billions of dollars for disaster relief while embracing President Trump’s immigration reforms. It’s designed to put pressure on the Democrats to compromise, but they are unlikely to buckle on paying for Trump’s border wall.

Two Sides:The Kentucky high school student accused of taunting an American Indian performing a ritual song in Washington has offered an explanation of what happened, and it’s reasonably plausible.

  Nick Sandmann of Covington Catholic High School says in a statement that the incident began when his group of students was confronted by four black protesters who called them a variety of names including, “racists,” “bigots,” “white crackers,” and “faggots.” Sandmann and many of his group were wearing “Make America Great Again” hats, a signal of racism to some people.

Sandmann says his group started doing their athletic spirit chants in response. He says he didn’t hear his group saying anything hateful.

  In the midst of this, Nathan  Phillips, a native American and Vietnam veteran, walked toward the group beating his drum. Sandmann says in his statement, “He locked eyes with me and approached me, coming within inches of my face. He played his drum the entire time he was in my face.” Sandmann did have a strange half-smile on his face, almost a smirk, but he goes on, “I never interacted with this protester. I did not speak to him. I did not make any hand gestures or other aggressive moves.”

  Sandmann has been condemned by politicians and public figures, but video from many angles supports his story. The incident ended when the students were called to their bus.

Baby It’s Cold:An arctic front has plunged down from Canada all the way down to Virginia and Missouri and east into New England.

It’s 10 degrees in Chicago; St. Louis,12; Minneapolis, 2; Buffalo, -3; Burlington, Vt., -8; New York, 5; Boston, 5; Bangor, Me., 9.

The Obit Page:Tony Mendez, the former CIA operative whose exploits rescuing six American diplomats trapped in Iran were featured in the hit movie “Argo,” has died at age 78.

  Mendez was an expert in “exfiltration,” getting people out of difficult places.

The six Americans had taken refuge in the Canadian embassy after the American embassy in Tehran was stormed by Iranian revolutionaries in 1979. Mendez slipped into Iran pretending to be scouting locations for a sci-fi movie. He gave the six Americans Canadian passports and got them out of the country on a commercial airliner posing as his production crew.

  The story was barely known until Ben Affleck starred as Mendez in the movie.

The End Zone:New England quarterback Tom Brady picked apart the Kansas City defense in overtime to win a 9^thAFC berth in the Super Bowl. Final score, 37-31.

  The Patriots won the toss and took the ball to begin the overtime. Although he missed some crucial passes, Brady drove his team with inevitability. It was a masterful performance.

  It was a day for overtime play. The New Orleans Saints were robbed of the game by a missed pass interference call. They were forced to kick a field goal rather than score a touchdown, and ended up tied 23-23 at the end of regulation time. The Rams ended it with a miraculous 57-yeard field goal in overtime.

The Finish Line:Skier Lindsey Vonn, who has been approaching the record for the most wins in World Cup history, says she’s on the verge of immediate retirement after a disappointing performance yesterday in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy.

  Vonn didn’t have the strength in her damaged knees to stay on course. She skied out. Vonn later said she’s considering retiring now rather than waiting until December as she had planned.

  She told reporters, “I’ve had four surgeries on my right knee. I’ve got no LCL (lateral collateral ligament) on my left knee. I’ve got two braces on. There’s only so much I can handle and I might have reached my maximum.” She said, “I’m not sure. I’ve got to take a couple days’ time and really think about things.”

-30-